News

Busch Looking to Do One Better at Pocono This Time Around

August 3, 2011

Photo Courtesy of Autostock

Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch and his Steve Addington-led "Double-Deuce" crew will be racing their "PRS-758" Dodge Charger in this weekend's action at Pocono Raceway. "We're rolling out another brand new Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger for this weekend at Pocono," said crew chief Addington. "We raced two of last year's cars there back in June. We crashed the primary car (PRS- 744) in practice and had to go to the backup (PRS-738). Kurt still won the pole, ran strong all day and finished second. We're coming back with this new piece thinking we can be even stronger this time around. Yeah, that means we're coming back to Pocono looking to win there on Sunday." The "PRS-749" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge (revamped car raced at Richmond) will serve as the backup car this weekend at Pocono.

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LONG POND, Pa. (August 2, 2011) - Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch enters this weekend's Good Sam Insurance 500 at Pocono Raceway looking to "one better" his effort from his last visit there back in June. Busch claimed the Coors Light Pole Award for the 5-Hour Energy Drink 500 back on June 12 and went on to finish second in the 500-mile battle on the "Tricky Triangle."

"The June race weekend at Pocono was super successful for our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Team and we are proud of the numbers we were able to put up on the board," said Busch, who fell from third to sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings after finishing 21st in Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but is still only 18 points out of the lead. "I'm extremely proud of the job our team did there that weekend, especially considering that I crashed our primary car in practice and we had to go to the backup."

Busch claimed the Coors Light Pole Award for June's battle with a fast lap of 171.579 mph (52.454 seconds) to claim his 14th career pole during a June stretch where he won three consecutive poles. In the 200-lap grind around the unique 2.5-mile triangular track, Busch led on three occasions for a total of 37 laps before having to settle for a runner-up finish, crossing the line 2.965 seconds behind winner Jeff Gordon.

"Our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge went from too loose to too tight and back to too loose during June's race," said Busch, who bounced among the top-four spots in the running order during the race that required three hours, 26 minutes and 21 seconds to complete. "I know that we learned a lot during that weekend that we can come back and apply this weekend. I am confident that Steve and the guys have enough data that we can come in there with a good baseline to start off with on Friday and then go from there."

In June's battle, Busch led until pitting with 60 laps remaining and was in the lead again when the stops cycled around with 56 circuits to go. Juan Pablo Montoya took only two tires during the fourth (and final) caution of the race and lined up as the leader for the Lap 160 restart. Gordon was second on the restart and immediately got around the No. 42 car for the lead. Busch quickly jumped into the second spot and the chase to catch Gordon ensued for the remainder of the race. Busch came up a little short in his quest for his third career Pocono win and had to concede the victory to Jeff Gordon, who posted the 84th victory of his illustrious career that day.

June's race finish at Pocono still leaves somewhat of a bitter taste in crew chief Steve Addington's mouth. "I think we had a car that could have won that race," Addington said. "I messed up on the call on the last pit stop. I didn't want the 24 team (Gordon) to hear me tell the spotter that we wanted Kurt on pit road on a certain lap, but the 4 car (Kasey Kahne) shot underneath and it jumbled everything up. We ended up making the stop the same lap as the 24. If we had stopped a lap earlier than the 24 and got out in front of him, we would have won the race. Our team came so far over that weekend, bouncing back from crashing our primary car and all. Kurt drove his heart out and showed why he is the best out there."

Busch, Addington and crew will be racing their "PRS-758" chassis this weekend at Pocono. "We're rolling out another brand new Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger for this weekend at Pocono," Addington. "We raced two of last year's cars there back in June. We're coming back with this new piece thinking we can be even stronger this time around. Yeah, that means we're coming back to Pocono looking to win there on Sunday." The "PRS-749" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge (revamped car raced at Richmond) will serve as the backup car this weekend at Pocono.

Addington certainly knows what to expect when it comes to strategy for this weekend's 21st race of the 36-race 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. "Are you kidding me?" Addington chuckled. "Pocono has always been a track when you had to look at fuel mileage strategy. When you look at how this season has gone, that has to be your chief concern. The fact that you can pit there easily without losing a lap, it will be huge on everybody's radar screen. Those big dominant wins like we enjoyed out in Sonoma (in the June 26 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infinion Raceway) are coming few and far between these days in Cup racing."

In 21 career races at Pocono, Busch has recorded two wins, eight top-five finishes and 11 top-10s. Entering this weekend's race, he has an 11.9 average start and a 16.1 average finish. He has led a total of 408 laps at Pocono and has a 94.669 percent lap completion average (3,871 of 4,089 laps). Busch has been running at the finish in 17 races (four DNFs) and has finished on the lead lap in 13 of the races.

"When the dust had settled there back in June, we had left a little out there on the table," said Busch, who extended his "Chase buffer" from 71 points to 78 points after Indy and with six races remaining to determine the 12 teams in the 2011 Chase. "I guess it may sound a little greedy, but it'd be fair to say that we're coming back in there looking to do one better this time around.

"We continue to bring better and stronger cars to every race and that's what we have to do if we're going to make the Chase and go after the championship during the final 10 races of the season," said Busch. "I'm really pleased with how our team has come around in the last couple of months. I may get a little fiery out there behind the wheel, but Steve and the guys know how I am and I love them for that. We all want to excel and that's what we're after - this weekend at Pocono and for the rest of the season."

This weekend's Pocono Raceway action gets under way on Friday with practice set from 12:00 noon till 1:30 p.m. and a final practice session from 4:00 p.

Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Cars owned and prepared by Team Penske have produced more than 470 major race wins, over 540 pole positions and 32 Championships across open-wheel, stock car and sports car racing competition. Over the course of its 52-year history, the team has also earned 16 Indianapolis 500 victories, two Daytona 500 Championships, a Formula 1 win and overall victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. For 2018, Team Penske will compete in the Verizon IndyCar Series, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR XFINITY Series and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team also races in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, in a partnership with Dick Johnson Racing, as DJR Team Penske.